2018 BASEBALL STYLE GUIDE

STANDARDIZED WRITING FORMAT REFERENCE FOR THE TACOMA RAINIERS

COMMONLY USED WORDS USAGE GUIDE QUICK REFERENCE

at-bat(s) Capitalization Minor League Baseball levels
ballpark Titles are only capitalized when part of a (ROK) rookie-level
base hit person’s formal name or address. (SS) short-season
basepaths Examples: (A) Single-A
baserunning (n. and adj.) • President Aaron Artman (A+) Advanced-A
batboy/batgirl • team president Aaron Artman (AA) Double-A
call-up (n.)/call up (v.) (AAA) Triple-A
center field Captain, manager, coach, umpire are all used
check swing
in lower case. 2018 Mariners MiLB Affiliates
clubhouse
co-branded Examples: Peoria Mariners (ROK)
(x-day) disabled list • manager Pat Listach Everett AquaSox (SS)
double play • Listach’s third year as Rainiers manager Clinton LumberKings (A)
doubleheader Modesto Nuts (A+)
first baseman Full terms are capitalized, general terms are Arkansas Travelers (AA)
flied out (past tense) not, even if referencing the same subject. Tacoma Rainiers (AAA)
fly ball (n.)/fly-ball (adj.) Examples:
game-worn • led the Pacific Coast League Common Abbreviations
grand slam • led the league
ground out (v.)/groundout (adj.) MONTHS
grounds crew Other capitalizations include: Abbreviate the following months when used
groundskeeper • Opening Day with a specific date:
hitting streak • Most Valuable Player Award • Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.
home run • Player/Pitcher of the Week/Month
homestand • Baseball Winter Meetings All other months spelled out. When a phrase
infielder • All-Star Game/All-Star break lists only a month and a year, always spell out
in-game
the full month and do not separate the year
inside-the-park home run
leadoff Abbreviation with commas.
left field Spell out full words on first mention.
left/right field line Subsequent mentions may be abbreviated STATES
left-hander/handed without using periods. Used in text: Spell out names of the 50 U.S.
lid-lifter Examples: states when standing alone and when used
losing streak • Pacific Coast League = PCL in conjunction with the name of a city, town,
Major League Baseball/Major League(s) • International League = IL village, or military base in textual material.
manager (no caps)
matchup (n. and adj.)/match up (v.) Positions and hit designations should be Dateline abbreviations: When used in a
midseason spelled out in text but abbreviated for use in dateline, use the following state abbreviations:
Minor League Baseball/minor league(s) tables, charts, game notes, and media guides.
no-hitter Ala. (AL) Md. (MD) N.D. (ND)
on-base percentage (OBP) Ariz. (AZ) Mass. (MA) Okla. (OK)
Hyphenation
outfielder Ark. (AR) Mich. (MI) Ore. (OR)
Adjectives consisting of two separate words
pinch hitter are connected by a hyphen. Calif. (CA) Minn. (MN) Pa. (PA)
pinch-hit single Examples: Colo. (CO) Miss. (MS) R.I. (RI)
play-by-play (PBP) Conn. (CT) Mo. (MO) S.C. (SC)
• left-handed pitcher
playoffs Del. (DE) Mont. (MT) S.D. (SD)
pop out (v.)/popout (n.) • career-high total
• seven-game hitting streak Fla. (FL) Neb. (NE) Tenn. (TN)
postgame
postseason Ga. (GA) Nev. (NV) Vt. (VT)
pre-approved References featuring numbers: Ill. (IL) N.H. (NH) Va. (VA)
pregame • 2-for-4 night Ind. (IN) N.J. (NJ) Wash. (WA)
preseason • two for his last 10 Kan. (KS) N.M. (NM) W.Va. (WV)
press box • fell to the visitors, 2-1 Ky. (KY) N.Y. (NY) Wis. (WI)
punchout La. (LA) N.C. (NC) Wyo. (WY)
rain check Numbers
rain delay Spelled out zero to nine, then numerals 10 Common Grammatical Mistakes
RBI (singular and plural) and above with the exception of beginning a Agreement
right field sentence. Includes innings. • Tacoma = its
right-hander/handed Examples: • Rainiers = their
road trip • Collected nine RBI
scoreboard • Belted 10 home runs Redundancies
sellout (n.)/sell out (v.) • Ten of his 15 hits are doubles • FIRST, not “first ever”
shut out (v.)/shutout (n.)
southpaw • Rallied in the eighth inning • RECORD, not “new record”
strike zone • Sent the game to the 11th inning
strikeout • Eleventh-inning heroics Fewer vs. Less
switch-handed pitcher • Fewer = countable (fewer losses)
switch-hitter Time of day • Less = uncountable (less angry)
twin bill • Use a.m. and p.m. with periods.
video board • Do not capitalize noon or midnight. Freshman vs. Freshmen
walk-off (adj. and n.)/walk off (v.) • Freshman = singular (he is a freshman)
winning/losing streak • Freshmen = plural (they are freshmen)
 2018 BASEBALL STYLE GUIDE
STANDARDIZED WRITING FORMAT REFERENCE FOR THE TACOMA RAINIERS

CLUB BRANDING PCL TEAM NAMES PUNCTUATION

Tacoma Rainiers Agreement Oxford Comma
Rainiers is never singular, even when referring When referring to both teams in the same Always use an Oxford (serial) comma in a list
to a single Rainiers player. sentence, be sure to use city/city or of three or more items. The Oxford comma
Examples: nickname/nickname, never a mix of the two. comes after the penultimate item in the list,
• CORRECT - He played high school ball with Examples: and prior to the word “and” or “or.”
former Rainiers pitcher Paul Fry. • CORRECT - The Rainiers and Aces both Examples:
• INCORRECT - He played high school ball logged 14 hits in the contest. • CORRECT - I’m having dinner with my
with former Rainier Paul Fry. • INCORRECT - Tacoma and the Aces both parents, Barack Obama, and Macy Gray.
logged 14 hits in the contest. • INCORRECT - I’m having dinner with my
Rainiers is never spelled with a possessive parents, Barack Obama and Macy Gray.
apostrophe. Team names/abbreviations
Examples: Always use the team’s full name (including Dashes
• CORRECT - Rainiers nickname) on first reference. Just the city Use a hyphen (-) when connecting two
• INCORRECT - Rainier’s or Rainiers’ or nickname can be used on subsequent separate words.
references. Examples:
Cheney Stadium • right-handed pitcher
The official stadium name is Cheney Stadium, Always use the appropriate name stylizations • eight-game winning streak
pronounced “Chee-nee.” and abbreviations found below: Shorter than both an em-dash and en-dash.

The stadium should never be referred to as Albuquerque Isotopes.................................ABQ Use an em-dash (—) when connecting two
Cheney, Rainiers Stadium, or Cheney Field. Colorado Springs Sky Sox..........................COS complete sentences or thoughts, or when
El Paso Chihuahuas.....................................ELP making an aside. A pair of em dashes can
The home plate ticketing windows should Fresno Grizzlies............................................FRE be used in place of commas to enhance
always be referred to collectively as the Iowa Cubs.................................................... IOW readability.
Cheney Stadium Box Office. Las Vegas 51s..................................................LV Example:
Memphis Redbirds.....................................MEM • However, when DeFrancesco finally came to
The elevated party deck beyond the left field Nashville Sounds......................................... NAS relieve his starter — which he would later
wall is stylized as R Yard, not “R” Yard or New Orleans Baby Cakes............................. NO admit was done two batters too late —
R-Yard. Oklahoma City Dodgers..............................OKC the damage had already been done.
Omaha Storm Chasers............................... OMA The em-dash can be used in place of
The bar located on the top level of the left Reno Aces....................................................RNO commas, parentheses, and colons. Always
field party decks is stylized as R Bar, not “R” Round Rock Express..................................... RR use a single space before and after each use
Bar or R-Bar. Sacramento River Cats............................... SAC of an em-dash. Longer than both a hyphen
Salt Lake Bees................................................ SL and en-dash.
The Summit Club member exclusive area Tacoma Rainiers...........................................TAC
located on the concourse down the third base Use an en-dash (–) to represent a span or
line should be referred to as Base Camp, not range of numbers, dates, or time. The en-dash
Base Camp Grill. in many cases can be interpreted as “to” or
“through.”
Both R Yard and R Bar should never be Examples:
preceeded by “the.” • Stefen Romero played the 2013–2016
Examples: seasons with Tacoma.
• CORRECT - Meet me at R Bar. • The Rainiers will play at home June 1–3.
• INCORRECT - Meet me at the R Bar. If the span is introduced with words such as
“from” or “between,” do not use the en-dash.
The scoreboard (one word) is located beyond • CORRECT: Forrest Snow spent time in
the wall in right-center field, while the video Tacoma from 2011 to 2016.
board (two words) is located beyond the wall • INCORRECT: Forrest Snow spent time in
in left-center field. These two terms are not Tacoma from 2011–2016.
interchangeable. Do not insert a space on either side of the en-
dash. Longer than a hyphen, but shorter than
the em-dash.

FORMATTING
Spacing/Indenting
Always use one singular space following a
period, never two spaces.

Do not use tabs or spaces to begin the first

line of a paragraph.